"Caudillo de España por la gracia de Dios" (The Leader of Spain by the grace of God). This was the title Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde gave himself when in 1939 he established himself dictator of Spain, alongside Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. Young Australians today probably think of Hitler and Mussolini as figures of ancient history. They were defeated in 1945. But General Franco was never defeated and relinquished his power only when he died in 1975 - just 31 years ago.
Teatro del Mundo is an Adelaide based theatre aiming to make the Spanish experience as real and personal for the rest of the world as it is for their Spanish background members. How should they do it, and why?
For the National Multicultural Festival they are performing La Guerra (The War). Why? - Because the story of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's, the attempt led by the Communist Party to defeat Franco's rise to power, is as relevant today as we face the problem of the use of the military for political purposes. For the young people who are not aware of General Franco, the Communists may also seem an unimportant part of history - almost a joke, since it all collapsed so quickly 15 years ago. But many young people from countries around the world, including Australia, went to fight alongside the Communists in Spain to try to bring democracy to a country ruled for centuries by kings and queens, and now under threat from an upstart army officer.
Telling the story as a history text is not enough to make us understand how the Spanish people feel, but Spanish dance - flamenco - is dramatic and powerful. So Liana Vargas plays the role of Dolores Ibarruri, the chief propagandist for the Communist Party, who directly confronts General Franco. Ibarruri leads a band of Revolutionary Women (Las Mujeres Libres - Anna Ovanesyan, Lucinna Chua and Natalie Quici) in her famous speech "No pasaran" (They shall not pass). Vargas explains "I have taken traditional flamenco and extended its potential, explored its pain and its ability to convey human emotion. It make so much sense to tell this story through flamenco." The dance can be imagined as Ibarruri says "It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
But this drama is much more than the just a picture of Franco as cruel tyranny in a dramatic dance with Ibarruri, the pride of Spain. There is a special irony in Chris Shepherd's role, consistent with the flamenco tradition, of the poetic nature of the male dancer, and the connection with the sensitivity and grace of the toreador, the bull fighter, when he delivers the famous poem by Federico Garcia Lorca "A las cinco de le tarde" (At five in the afternoon).
"Now the dove and the leopard wrestle / at five in the afternoon. / And a thigh with a desolated horn / at five in the afternoon / ... And the bull alone with a high heart! / At five in the afternoon / ... Ah, that fatal five in the afternoon! / It was five by all the clocks! / It was five in the shade of the afternoon!"
Should we feel only sympathy for the killed bullfighter, or pride in the success of the harrassed bull? What is the right way to feel in a civil war - did the Communists, however romantic their fight, get what they deserved? Did Lorca, the poet who represented all the hopes and fears of the Spanish people - "Tell the moon to come, for I do not want to see the blood of Ignacio on the sand" - deserve to be dragged into a field in 1936 by Franco's soldiers, shot dead and tossed into an unmarked grave?
Teatro del Mundo's Flamenco Quartet - guitarist Aloysius Leeson, cantaor (singer) Mari Olivares, violinist Andi Aldam and percussionist Shaun Doddy - have searched for the balance between the traditional flamenco improvisation and the written word and score, creating highly orchestrated music of many layers and subtle innuendo. Vargas says "The sound of La Guerra is as impressive as its subject matter. It drives us to fever pitch."
The work is placed in context by a montage of original propaganda posters and images from the Civil War, complementing the dance, spoken word, song and live music. Established in 2000 with an Arts South Australia development grant, Teatro del Mundo has previously presented La Guerra to full houses at the Adelaide Fringe and South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festivals in 2004.
Liana Vargas will also conduct open flamenco dance workshops February 18-19, for beginners to advanced dance students.
La Guerra
Teatro del Mundo
The Street Theatre Studio
Thursday to Saturday February 16-18, 8pm
Tickets: full $35; concessions and Festival card holders $30
Bookings: The Street Theatre 6247 1223
© Frank McKone, Canberra
No comments:
Post a Comment